The Orange Box

"The most essential purchase in this generation."

Oddly titled, The Orange Box is one of the greatest deals in gaming collections to date. It is compiled of Half-Life 2, along with Episode One and Two, Portal, and Team Fortress. Half-Life 2 is one of the greatest first-person shooters I've played. Episode 1 and 2 are expansions that continue the story in Half-Life. Portal is a innovative puzzle game which takes advantage of a Portal Gun. Team Fortress 2 is a multiplayer-only first-person shooter, in which I will not being reviewing.

Half-Life 2, Episode 1 and Episode 2

Half-Life 2, the follow-up to the hit first-person shooter, "Half Life" was an even bigger success. It was considered the greatest PC game, greatest FPS on the PC, etc. You again play has everyone's favorite silent protagonist, Gordan Freeman. Gordan returns to Earth, which is now being controlled by a force called the Combine. After a daring escape from the Combine, he sees some of his old friends through the game, all which say "Gordan Freeman?! Is that you?" in a hilarious tone of voice. Basically, you join up with resistance and help overthrow the combine. And of course, you play a significant role in doing so. After the cliffhanger ending in Half-Life 2, Episode 1 literally picks up right where it ended. You journey with Alyx Vance and you need to get out of the Citadel as fast as possible, considering it's on the verge of exploding. Episode 2, has Alyx and Gordan traveling to a Resistance base to assist her father.

Half-Life, unlike many First-person shooters, actually got you involved in the story. And I mean that by a literal meaning. During cut-scenes (if you want to call them that), there is no cinematic movie, you're still in-game by Gordan's prospective. This immersed you in the world created in Half-Life so deeply, that it was overwhelming. It just creates a realistic atmosphere that really gets you involved with the already great story. But, like many other reviewers, I must agree and say that Episode 1's story is the weakest link. This is why I'm not explaining much of the story since it's best to experience this for yourself.

Now onto graphics. Since Episode 2 is actually a new installment, it looks better than both Half-Life 2 and Episode 1. But that doesn't mean the graphics are bad. Half-Life 2, even with a slightly dated engine (seeing how it's been three years), is still on par with many of the games that are considered "graphical innovations." In Episode 1, there is more detail as opposed to the detail in Half-Life 2. The graphics in all three games, from gun details and environments to the facial expressions, all look beautiful.

The voice-acting along with sound-effects, are excellent. The voice-acting from different characters aren't your stereotypical voices that are presented in a majority of games with voice-overs, they are presented well and in a realistic fashion. The effects from the guns are also great, along with the sounds the Combine make.

Now the gameplay. Half-Life 2 does play as your standard FPS for the most part. However, it also blends simple puzzles, along with great action-packed gameplay. The thing that was really great about this game was the incredible ragdoll-physics engine. It also takes advantage of the "weapon-wheel," which is where you press the D-Pad and it'll bring up a wheel of weapons you have obtained. It's one of the favorite features on a shooter.

Now what many of you maybe wondering how is the transition from mouse-and-keyboard to a controller? Well, I was never a big fan of the mouse and keyboard control scheme. I know it's more accurate, but I could never became a big fan of it, which also isolated me from playing many PC games. The control-scheme with the controller is excellent and undeniably simplistic. You'll love the controls. Trust me.

Despite the generic list of firearms, it's still somehow not boring to use the same weapon, it's actually fun to use the trusty crowbar and a small pistol. However, the funnest weapon and probably the most innovative weapon in a shooter is the Gravity Gun. It's novelty just never gets old. It's used to pick small objects up and shoot them at enemies. Everything from sawblades to explosive barrels. In fact, there is a level (Ravenholm) that is set-up to take advantage of it's usages. It's just fun to experiment with and see what you can hurl at a zombie. I mentioned the excellent ragdoll physics in this, it's mainly because of the Gravity Gun which really exploits the realistic physics engine.

The primary enemy in Half-Life 2 are the Combine foot soldiers. Along with the oh-so famous headcrabs with turn humans into zombies. With both of the enemies, the A.I. is just amazing. I'll first start with the zombies. They are ruthless and not afraid of anything, but they are also braindead. Just like any other zombie. They can and will attack you in whichever situation. For the Combine soldiers, they respond to your actions in a realistic matter. You shoot, they run for cover or duck behind cover. Just think a hostile but brilliant elite police force who are incredibly aggressive and aren't afraid to die. Now incorporate that into A.I. form in a video game. That is how good it is.

In many shooters, there are a single-level dedicated to a vehicle segment. Most of which are boring and pointless and just adding to expand the already minimal variety. It's a different story with Half-Life which hosts lengthy vehicle segments mixed with on-foot segments. It may sound boring, but really, it's not. The helicopter chase is honestly one of the funnest levels in a shooter. Ever. And the best part about the vehicle segments? It's actually significant to the story!

There isn't much difference with Episode 1 and 2. I mean it is the same Half-Life 2, it's just expanding the story. Episode 1, you're with Alyx most of the time. Like the enemies, her A.I. is excellent, too. Episode 1 is said to be the disappointment in the two expansions. I wouldn't call it a "disappointment," just not as good as it could have been. It's really fun, I mean it is Half-Life, ya know? Unlike the claustrophobic areas in Half-Life 2 and Episode 1, Episode 2 is dedicated to more open-ended environments. I will say Episode 2 is better than Episode 1, but I have to admit that I hate the last level in Episode 2. And not to spoil anything, it features a shocking ending.

If I rated each of these games individually, I'd rate Half-Life 2 a 10, Episode 1 an 8, and Episode 2 a 9, which averages out to a 9/10. All three are great games, but both Episode 1 and 2 are pretty brief. However they are expansions, so if it was one game, it'd probably be around 15-20 hours to beat.

Portal

Portal is revolved around strictly puzzles. You take the role as a female protagonist and you wake-up in a research facility. And you are a test subject. Your objective is to escape out of each room by making two portals. At first, you don't have both portal types. Once you do, you can shoot an orange or blue portal with the right or left triggers. The portals work like this; you shoot one portal on a surface that can open them, shoot another portal so you can walk through it, then you go into one and come out the other. Now the point of the portals? There are many places that are unreachable. So say for example there is a high platform that's impossible to reach. You can shoot a portal at the ceiling above, if there is one, and shoot a portal that you can jump or walk in and you drop onto the platform.

At the start, there is a very helpful tutorial. There is A.I. that guides you through named GLaDOS. It exploits such strong emotion in a monotone voice and creates some of the most enjoyable humor in any video game. This game is said to be hilarious and GLaDOS is why. You just have to experience her wit in the game.

This game is deemed to be perfect. In which it is for a lot of cases. But for me, it lacks the same entertainment value that many people have had whilst playing it. The gameplay is innovative, simplistic and complex at the same time. It's one of the most hilarious games out there. The graphics are gorgeous. The reason why I don't find this game that entertaining is mainly because of it's lack of action. And yes, I know it's a puzzle game.

On the real negative note, this game is incredibly short and far too easy. It will take the average player 2-3 hours to beat it, but being as this collection of games is worth the price, it's not time wasted. I could probably play Portal for hours on end, it just lacks the entertainment that I found in Half-Life 2 and it's expansions, but it is addicting, mind-puzzling sometimes, and humorous. It gets an 8/10.

For Team Fortress 2, I'm unavailable to review it. I do not have Xbox Live and I do not plan to get it anytime soon. But I'd say that it does look rather good, it looks fast-paced and entertaining and I love the cel-shaded style graphics in it.

Final Rating: 9/10

For $60, this is definitely worth it. It offers epic single-player gameplay along with a game for you multiplayer junkies. If you're a shooter fan, you have no excuse to pass this game, no reason at all. It has incredible replay value, incredible controls, incredible graphics, incredible everything. Not many games are worth $60 these days, or $50 if you want to include popular Wii games. Considering the shooter market strictly focuses on multiplayer nowadays, there are only a couple that offer an epic Single-Player. Half-Life 2 (and the expansions) are one of them.

Need I say more? Five games, $60 bucks, what more could you ask for?

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/08/08

Game Release: The Orange Box (US, 10/10/07)